Give A Chance
by pika318
Summary: With Ashiya tiring himself out with the huge amount of housework he has to do on top of his other duties, Suzuno comes up with a suggestion. Based on what was mentioned in Vol 15.
1. Give a Chance

**Moko-chan** : Someone was suffering from fanfiction withdrawal…Based off volume 15 where Lucifer hinted that he was able to do house chores already. Takes place around vol 12 and 13. I swear some of the things I write in here is basically what happens when I try to help my mom with housework.

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 **One shot** : Give a Chance

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"Alsiel…don't you think…" A kimono clad woman stood outside Room 201 of the old wooden apartment of Villa Rosa Sasazuka. As a chilly wind blew by, she tucked her hands in her sleeves as she addressed a tall man with straw coloured hair who was throwing clothes and detergent into a pale green washing machine. Seeing that the man was not looking in her direction, the woman spoke again.

"Alsiel, are you even listening?"

The taller man threw a sideways glance at the woman and replied with a tone of irritation.

"I hear you. But as you can see, Bell, I do not have the time or energy to entertain you." As the man called Alsiel, that is Ashiya Shiro as he is known in Japan, spoke, he closed the lid of the washing machine and started it up. The sound of water pouring onto the clothes was heard.

The woman he addressed as "Bell" was known as Kamazuki Suzuno in Japan. With a resigned bow of her head, she looked up at Ashiya again and asked.

"So how many things left do you have to do for the day?"

Ashiya tilted his head, trying to comprehend the purpose of Suzuno's question.

"What do you mean?"

Suzuno pulled her hands out of her sleeves, raised them up and started listing down a series of activities while ticking them off with her fingers.

"Let's see, just starting from this morning, you woke up at 6am, swept the yard, took out the trash, went to the supermarket, probably, I just heard you going out. Then you came back about 8am, made breakfast, sent the Demon King out to work, started to clean the tatami mats, woke Lucifer up, finished cleaning the mats and washing the bathroom, swept the corridor, made lunch, washed up, went out again and here you are, doing the laundry. If I'm not mistaken, you also have to keep watch on Hatagaya street, do the groceries and cook dinner. Also, I have not mentioned the smaller things you have to do, such as repairing things, doing your research and…."

Suzuno had listed so many tasks that she ran out of fingers to count with. After what Suzuno said, Ashiya let out a resigned sigh and put a hand to his face.

"So when was the last time did you have a good night's sleep?" Suzuno asked next.

"Probably a few weeks ago. But what choice do I have, I have to finish all these tasks. I can't exactly split myself into two, can I?" Ashiya said.

"Your dark eye circles are getting worse." Suzuno pointed out.

"I know."

"I bet you can't sleep because you were worrying about what you needed to do the next day."

Ashiya let out a sigh again and mumbled under his breath.

"And I have to clear things up with Suzuki-san as well. Why are there only 24 hours in a day…"

"What did you say?" Suzuno asked as she heard Ashiya say something but did not catch the words.

"It's nothing much. So, are you here to offer me some help or are you here just to point out what I already know? If there's nothing else you would like to say, I need to take down the clothes." Ashiya picked up the empty laundry basket as he said this.

"Why don't you ask him for help?" As Suzuno said this, she turned her head to the direction of the window of room 201. Ashiya turned his head to look in the same direction as well. There was Lucifer, also known as Urushihara, napping on the tatami mats with a thin blanket over himself.

Ashiya turned back to look at Suzuno and a displeased expression crossed his face.

"Surely you jest."

"No...no…I'm extremely serious about this." Suzuno said, both her tone and expression were stern.

Ashiya shook his head.

"Out of the question. You do remember that I tried to get Urushihara to do housework before right? Shortly after you moved here. He couldn't do any of it right, it only gave me more work afterwards. Besides, even if I wanted to teach him again, it would take even more effort to make sure he's up to par." Ashiya crossed his arms and gave all the reasons he could think of to not undertake the task of teaching the other demon how to do household chores.

"Well…" Suzuno frowned as she thought back to Ashiya ranting about how there were still oil stains on the dishes, clothes folded in weird parallelograms and an overflowing washing machine.

"Alsiel, do you think that maybe…well...maybe you are setting your standards a bit too high?"

Suzuno asked, cautiously phrasing her words.

"Too high? You mean you are alright with oily dishes? They breed bacteria!" Ashiya commented in annoyance and disbelief.

"It's not that...what I mean is, it's not as though you were brilliant at housework when you first started, are you?" Suzuno asked, looking straight at Ashiya in the eyes.

"Guh…well, not really…"

Even Ashiya, who could currently hold the status of a model housewife, had to admit that in the beginning, just shortly after coming to japan, he burnt food, did not know he had to use soap to wash dishes and only figured out that the tatami mats needed to be cleaned regularly when he and Maou kept sneezing from the accumulation of dust.

"So, it's normal to make some mistakes in the beginning…"

"It's not as though I expect him to be perfect in the first try, but he tried a few times and it's still that bad!" Ashiya protested indignantly.

"...and some people take a longer time to learn. Alsiel, do you want to enter battle, exhausted because you were sweeping the yard late at night?"

"Err…"

"Or even worse, your name could go down in history that you were defeated because of exhaustion from doing late night laundry."

"Now you're just exaggerating…"

"We have three demons and an inquisitor living in a run-down apartment in Japan, anything can happen."

"You could just help me…" Ashiya feebly attempted another tactic.

"I have to take care of Nord-dono when he goes out, I'm not that free to help you either."

Which got crushed immediately.

"Fine...I get it...I'll try again...Thank you for your concern." Ashiya shrugged his shoulders and gave up. Suzuno nodded in satisfaction.

"I notice that you tend to lose your temper with Lucifer too easily when he makes a mistake. Perhaps if you were more patient, you would make better progress."

After giving one last piece of advice, Suzuno returned to her room next door, leaving Ashiya to think about what she said.

* * *

 _Okay, patience, Alsiel, just be patient._

Ashiya pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched up his forehead as he repeated that mantra to calm himself down. The washing machine was currently spitting out foam.

"Um…" Urushihara gave Ashiya a guilty look wondering if he should say something or just keep his mouth shut until Ashiya said something.

"How many…" Ashiya started talking.

"Yes?" Urushihara slowly took a step back away from the taller demon.

"How many cups of detergent did you put inside?"

"Two?"

"Two." Ashiya repeated the answer to himself. Then he let out a long sigh. At this moment, Urushihara mentally prepared himself for another long lecture.

"This one only needs half a cup. It's a new concentrated kind of detergent which doesn't require a lot to wash a full load. Although the instructions were written on top, I shouldn't have assumed that you would read it. Just take note of that in future."

After saying that, Ashiya stopped the washing machine and restarted the rinse cycle.

"Eh? A…Ashiya, are you sick or something? Do I need to call the ambulance?!"

Ashiya gave a sideways glance at the smaller demon who looked as though he had witnessed Ashiya sprouting horns from the top of his head, not that it was a trait of the Iron Scorpions, the demon clan which Ashiya hailed from.

"...Just take down the clothes, will you?"

With a stiff nod and a bewildered expression, Urushihara went back into the apartment to take down the clothes that were hanging near the window.

Watching Urushihara scramble into the house, Ashiya felt strangely relaxed. Usually a mixture of himself, housework and Urushihara would result in elevated blood pressures and stress levels, but it did not happen this time.

 _Was it because I didn't shout at Urushihara this time?_

The sound of gushing water from the washing machine stopped and it made loud groaning noises as it started turning.

 _Well, I guess being patient is beneficial for all of us after all._

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 **Moko-chan** : Yes, it's short. Not gonna force myself to make it longer.


	2. A Small Garden

**Moko-chan** : Chapter 2. Continuation from the first. I procrastinated this for a looonnngggg time.

 **pika318:** This is based of a short story (magazine only) that was about Suzuno convincing Urushihara to grow a garden so he would get some exercise (and help with his weight loss.

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 **Chapter 2:** A Small Garden

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"Phew."

Urushihara sat on the now-clean tatami mats and threw a washcloth into a bucket of water near him. He glanced at the clock hanging above the kitchen area.

"It's only 4.40 huh."

Although it was only mid-afternoon, as it was winter, the period of daylight had shortened and he could see that the sky was already darkening.

 _Well, Ashiya won't be back till much later so I guess I should just surf the net._

Without bothering to stand up, Urushihara crawled towards his laptop and switched it on. Thanks to the cold weather, it was one of the rare moments where the programs on his old laptop could run smoothly. However, the start up process was still rather slow. Just as the four coloured "Door" icon finally appeared, he heard someone calling him from the kitchen window.

"Lucifer!"

"Hm? Oh, Bell. What's up?" Urushihara turned his head to the source of the voice and saw the Demon Fortress's neighbour, that is, the inquisitor, Crestia Bell or Kamazuki Suzuno as she was officially registered in Japan, standing outside.

She was dressed in her usual Kimono garb as usual, but she added on a furry shawl to combat the cold. She was gesturing with her hands, asking the fallen angel to come out in an excited manner.

"They've finally sprouted!"

"They…? Ah!"

Urushihara's eyes widened as he realised what the "they" referred to.

"The cabbages and the lettuce and the rest, they finally sprouted!" Suzuno face had a rare look of excitement.

If it was Urushihara from a few months ago, he would surely had waved his hand dismissively and went back to his battered laptop. However, this time, he quickly got onto his feet, hastily put on his shoes and opened the front door.

"You better get your jacket . It's getting chilly." Suzuno reminded him as she saw that he was just wearing a thin long sleeved sweat shirt and sweat pants. Then she rushed downstairs, making a rhythmic tapping sound as her straw sandals hit the metal staircase. Urushihara grabbed his light down jacket from the hook near the doorway and followed after her.

At the back of the apartment which was shielded from the eyes of outsiders was small square plots of soil which have been made by both Suzuno and Urushihara.

The landlady had allowed Suzuno to grow some simple crops for her own interest. It was meant to be a solo project but as Urushihara needed help to lose the weight he had gained due to his unhealthy lifestyle, she roped him in to help as well. To Suzuno's surprise and relief, not only did Urushihara agree, he continued helping even after he had reached his target weight.

"Look!"

Suzuno pointed at the slightly damp soil.

Contrasting against the dark brown soil which they have painstakingly cleared of snow, weeds and stones were small green leaves.

"Finally…"

The two had failed to grow anything for a few weeks. They replaced the top soil, adjusted the amount of food scraps to bury into the soil, changed the amount of water to be sprinkled and so on but they could not figure out the best combination. Finally their hard work had paid off.

"I can't believe we actually grew something!"

"...Bell, are you actually crying over something like this?" Urusuhihara asked as he noticed that Suzuno's eyes were starting to get wet in the corners.

"Huh…? No, no...okay, maybe a bit." Suzuno frantically used her shawl to wipe the corner of her eyes. She then took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I just find it amazing that I could...keep something alive." Suzuno said.

"..."

"As you might know, in Ente Isla, my job was equivalent of an assassin. I just killed whoever I was ordered to kill, whoever was in the way of the Church. I ended so many lives, I don't even know if these bloodied hands were even capable of saving anything." The inquisitor tried to explain her previous overemotional state.

"I don't see how it's related." Urushihara commented bluntly.

"In the past, there were people who wanted to rescue the people around them, but ended up continuously manipulating, hurting and killing others in the process. Even people like them can grow plants, or even raise children." Urushihara explained in a nonchalant manner.

"Eh….Is that supposed to be some form of encouragement?"

"...Anyway, the vegetables only just started growing. How long do they take to grow fully?"

"Hmm? Oh, about two weeks. Then they should be ready for eating." Suzuno was taken aback by the sudden change in topic but she managed to answer the question with confidence.

"Oh okay. Well, since that's settled, I'm going back in."

"Lucifer, you're actually happy about this too, aren't you? That your efforts paid off." Suzuno asked as Urushihara headed back to the apartment.

"...well, it can be seen as though I obtained another achievement."

Suzuno stood on the spot, confused at what "achievement" meant, not realising that it was a game term. Urushihara left her there and went back to Room 201 to wash up the bucket and rags before surfing the net.

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 **Omake**

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 _Yes, he slimmed down. It was noticeable. But it could not have been that fast, could it? The diet plan started barely a month ago._

"Lucifer?"

"What?" Urushihara continued weeding the plants off the plot of land he had been assigned to take care of as he acknowledged Suzuno.

"How heavy are you now?"

"Huh? I measured last week, I guess it was about fifty two kilograms?" Urushihara thought back to the mechanical scale that was in the Demon Fortress.

Suzuno's face darkened.

"Wha...what is it?" Urushihara asked cautiously.

"You were about sixty two kilograms a month ago." Suzuno stated.

"Yes…?"

"HOW CAN YOU LOSE WEIGHT THAT FAST?!"

"Huh...well...I..don't know?" Urushihara had stopped whatever he was doing and listened to Suzuno's strange outburst.

"Wait...even Sariel-sama was like that. His weight ballooned to the point of morbid obesity but now he's back to normal...and it was only a few months. Don't tell me….it's an angel trait?!"

"Angel...trait, what?"

"Angels gain and lose weight easily. That must be it."

"I don't think this fact is important for anyone…"

"It is for me! It's so hard to lose weight and I've been eating all those delicious food lately..."

The inquisitor suddenly seemed depressed.

"If anything...I don't think you're fa...nevermind, I'll shut up now." Urushihara returned to weeding the plot of land as he slowly inched his way further from his depressed neighbour.

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 **Moko-chan:** Finally done!

 **pika318** : This is one of the reasons I like Suzuno and Lucifer friendship. So cute.


	3. A Small Garden Bonus

**Moko-chan** : This has been playing in my head for a really long time so I thought I would just reveal it here. Yeah, head canon. Probably not going to happen officially but would be super cool anyway. Maybe.

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 **Bonus Chapter**

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 _This is heavier than I thought._

Urushihara lifted a heavy box from the ground with a grunt. He could have used some demon magic to help him out but it was really not worth it. He needed the workout anyway.  
The box was full of lettuce, cabbages, spinach and other plants that he and Suzuno grew over the past month or so behind Sasazuka Villa Rosa. They have been taking turns coming back to this run-down apartment to take care of the plants.

He walked to the front of the house and headed to the common stairs to go to Room 201. Currently Room 201 was quite bare, save for a few essentials like a table, some tea bags, instant noodles and a kettle. Maou Sadao, that is, Demon King Satan came back to stay if he felt that there was no point or no time to open a "Gate" back to the foreign world, Ente Isla and spend time there. Furthermore, that room now acted as the sole place for them to open the "Gate". The other rooms, Room 202 and 101 were completely abandoned as their residents had moved back to Ente Isla.

"Oh hey, there's actually people staying here!" A man's voice was heard. Urushihara turned to the source of the voice and saw a tall, well built man standing just outside the entrance to the yard of Villa Rosa. The man was wearing a white hoodie and ragged dark coloured jeans. An equally white beanie covered his head and he was wearing black sunglasses that made it difficult to see his eyes.

Urushihara looked at the loud man for a short moment, ignored him and started to climb the staircase.

"Hey, boy, do you actually stay here?" The man had walked into the yard, his heavy boots resounding against the cold hardened ground.

Urushihara scowled as the man let himself into the premises as though he owned the place.

"Yes and you are trespassing."

The man threw his hands up as though to show his surprise and then he laughed.

"Haha, don't call the police on me. I was just surprised that this place is liveable. You see, I got kicked out of my previous residence because I couldn't pay rent. I just found a part time job and this place seems cheap. I actually came here a few times but there wasn't anyone around. I thought it was completely abandoned or something."

 _Partially true._

Urushihara thought to himself. As the man drew closer, Urushihara could see that this man seemed fairly young. Maybe in his mid to late twenties.

"Then again, if it was abandoned, I could sneak in and live here and everyone would be none the wiser." The man laughed again.

"...it's not abandoned and the other rooms are not for rent." Urushihara said shortly.

"Is it? But I haven't seen anyone else other than you!"

"They're out working…" Urushihara dismissed the man's statement with a vague statement and was prepared to ask the man to leave when the man pulled the box he was holding.

"Woah, did you grow these?!" The man exclaimed loudly and used his fingers to hook onto the edge of the box Urushihara was holding. Urushihara jerked backwards and did not bother to hide an annoyed face.

 _This idiot is even worse than Gabriel! Doesn't personal space exist in his dictionary?!_

Urushihara's eyes narrowed and he answered the man curtly.

"Yes and if you don't mind, I have to get back." Urushihara tried to pull the edge of the box out of the man's grasp but the strange man held firm. The edge of the pitiful box warped a bit.

"It must have taken quite some effort to grow these. Amazing job, kid." The man was now peering into the box. The edge of his mouth curled upward into a smile.

"But what's really amazing is…" The man lowered his sunglasses with his free hand. Underneath the sunglasses was a scarred right eye that can not open anymore and a left eye that had red irises.

"!"

"That the Child of Dawn is actually growing vegetables."

 _Michael?!_

Urushihara felt a familiar feeling. The feeling that something was pulling behind him.

 _A "Gate"!_

"Time to go home, Luci…?!" The man, no, the archangel called Michael raised his arm in front of himself, planning to push the fallen angel through the "Gate" he opened. Suddenly, without any warning, purple orbs surrounded him and shot beams out. Michael muttered an incantation quickly and the beams were deflected before they came within an inch to his body. The beams scattered, hitting the ground, the walls and the staircase, causing large amounts of smoke and melting part of the structures they touched.

"Tch!" Michael made an annoyed sound as the "Gate" closed prematurely and he heard the sound of wings spreading and the other party taking off the the sky. As he looked up, a shadow came closer to him.

"Gu!" Some solid objects hit his head and shoulders and something else obscured his vision. Removing the offending object from the top of his hand, he saw that it was the cardboard box that Urushihara was holding. The things that fell on him were the home-grown vegetables.

"...As expected from the son of those two. Shouldn't have underestimated him at all." Michael said to himself with a smirk as he stepped on a head of lettuce, which broke apart with a crunch. He looked up into the sky to see a shrinking black shadow heading further away.

"How troublesome." Snow white wings extended from his back, blowing away debris from around his feet and the scarred angel took off to the sky, giving chase.

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 **Moko-chan** : Yup that's all I thought about. Do not ask me to continue. I think the original novel can do it in a more drama manner.

 **pika318** :...Never thought you would write that 0_0 Things suddenly got so serious.


End file.
